plant-inspired food + lifestyle

4th Annual Texas Veggie Fair | A Yummy Roundup

I despise and try to avoid crowds most of the time, but you can bet I always make an exception for the Texas Veggie Fair. I would choose this one-day event over the regular Texas State Fair any day, and that’s not just because admission to the veggie fair is free. I go for the awesome food, and to support the wonderful vegan community of activists, businesses, educators, and more.The event organizers do an awesome job.

I’m always amazed at how crowded it gets, and it seems to just keep getting bigger every year. The lines are INSANE (especially the line for the vegan corn dogs), but it’s very exciting to see how many people are interested in the veggie trend, especially in a place like Texas. This year’s event was said to be the biggest yet, with over 7,000 attendees. That’s wonderful news to me!

This year, my friend Lila and I went together. Our plan was to try the food, volunteer with Mercy for Animals, and then come back for another round of food before heading home. My sister joined us for the first round of food, but she had to head home early to study. Pesky school, always getting in the way of noms and fun…just kidding (but not really).
I enjoyed seeing old and new faces, including inspiring activists from organizations like Animal Rights and Rescue of North Texas, Mercy for Animals (the amazing Nora Kramer flew in from LA to fill in for Sarah Von Alt) and The Humane League. Sylvia Elzafon, an amazing vegan culture photographer (insert fangirling here), shot photos of the entire event with The Minnericks Photographers–check out the professional event photos here.
It was also nice to see the lovely Christy Morgan (The Blissful Chef) at the PlantFusion vendor booth. And I met a few new volunteers–everyone was great and so inspiring. I missed seeing several of my favorite people because the event was so large.

Then we decided to get pizza from Gepetto’s Pizza Truck, so that we could eat it while waiting in the other food lines. The truck isn’t usually vegan, but they served all vegan menu items specially for the fair.

V-Chili Dawg Pizza from Gepetto’s Pizza Truck. I hadn’t had this flavor combination on a pizza before, so it was interesting!

Nammi’s, a Vietnamese fusion food truck, offered bánh mì and fusion tacos with stir-fried ginger tofu. They also had one of my favorite dishes ever, bún bò Huế chay, a vegan rendition of Vietnamese beef noodle soup. I tried their version, and found that I personally prefer D’Vegan’s or the kind my aunt makes at home, but I must give them kudos for preparing that dish to serve that many people at the event.

Bún Bò Huế Chay (vegan beef noodle soup) from Nammi’s Food Truck. Their broth was somewhat salty for my tastes, but I was impressed that they offered this dish. Extra limes with mine, please!

Our last round of dessert for the day was purchased at the Reverie Bakeshop. Their vegan and gluten-free desserts were absolutely adorable. I just wanted to get one of everything, not because I was hungry, but because I wanted to touch all the cuteness and call it mine. Then, I had to get some pumpkin-shaped marshmallows from Chicago Vegan Foods, because, why not? They will make good gifts for my long distance friends.

A slice of gluten-free tiramisu cheesecake from Reverie Bakeshop! I wasn’t crazy about the middle layer of this cheesecake, to be honest, but I absolutely loved the whipped topping and the spongey cake at the bottom.

A Wizard of Oz themed red velvet cupcake from Reverie Bakeshop! Why are all of their sweets so adorable?

Brownie cheesecake from Reverie Bakeshop. How does something that is gluten-free and vegan still manage to be so decadent?

A lemon “milkshake” cupcake from Reverie Bakeshop! My sister and I went nuts over this adorable presentation.

Pumpkin-flavored marshmallow treats from Chicago Vegan Foods. These were too cute—I couldn’t resist getting a few to send to friends for Halloween.

After all those decadent foods, I decided I needed some kind of detox.
I decided to get a bottle of organic juice from Earth On Tap. The green juice had apples, celery, ginger, lime and cilantro. Sweet, cold and spicy, the drink woke my senses up and got my head ready to study after the fair.

“Greatorade” from Earth On Tap, an organic juice and smoothie bar. After all the decadent foods, I decided I needed some kind of detox, so I got a bottle of this juice, featuring apples, celery, ginger, lime and cilantro. The sweet and spicy green drink woke my senses up and got my head ready to study after the fair.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t stay at the fair the whole time, because of studying responsibilities. Oh school, there you are again. Don’t get me wrong, I am very thankful to be privileged enough to be receiving an education. Haha. I just need more hours in the day for all the things I want to do!

How about you? Did you go to the Texas Veggie Fair? If so, what was your favorite part(s) of the event? Please tell me in the comments below! I know that next year, I want to try the foods I was eyeing but had to miss out on this year (because I was too full), including Good Karma Kitchen‘s Japanese curry and Capital City Bakery’s cheesecake!

As I was driving home from the fair, I was already thinking about how I couldn’t wait for next year’s event.
Vegan corn dogs, I will dream of you for the next 362 days.